Egyptian military court sentences 17 to death over church bombings

Thu 11 Oct 2018 at 17:54 Regional

NNA - An Egyptian military court on Thursday sentenced 17 people to death for their involvement in bombing attacks on three churches and a police checkpoint in 2016 and 2017 that killed more than 80 people, state news agency MENA reported.

Nineteen others were handed life prison terms for the attacks, which hit churches in Cairo, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta, MENA said.

The sentences are subject to appeal.

Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the Alexandria and Tanta bombings, both of which were suicide attacks on Palm Sunday in April 2017 that killed 45 people.

The group also took responsibility for a December 2016 attack on a chapel adjoining St Mark's, Cairo's main cathedral, that left 28 dead. The cathedral is the seat of Coptic Pope Tawadros II and its security is normally tight.

MENA said that some of the defendants were also suspected of carrying out an attack on a checkpoint in Egypt's Western Desert that killed at least eight policemen last year.--REUTERS

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